UTSA Survives Loser Bowl Drama, Beats USF 31–23

Josh Folck, The Stateline Gazette SAN ANTONIO — What began with a text message in September ended with a hot dog, a bottle of ketchup and one team walking away with bragging rights.

UTSA outlasted South Florida 31–23 on Saturday night in what had become known across the Stateline Conference as the “Loser Bowl,” a matchup fueled as much by pride and payback as by playoff positioning.

The wager was simple: the losing coach would eat a plain hot dog drowned in ketchup in front of both teams.

The Roadrunners made sure they wouldn’t be the ones paying.

USF struck first and carried a 10–7 halftime lead after a kickoff return touchdown by Jeyquan Smith, briefly silencing the Alamodome. But UTSA seized control in the third quarter behind a punishing ground attack led by Robert Henry Jr., who finished with 102 yards and two touchdowns.

“We told Robert all week this was his kind of game,” UTSA coach Mark Hammerstone said. “Cold, ugly, emotional — he delivered.”

Henry’s physical running flipped the momentum, and UTSA stretched the lead to 31–17 early in the fourth quarter. USF responded with a late touchdown to pull within eight, but turnovers proved costly. Bulls quarterback Byrum Brown threw two interceptions, matching two thrown by UTSA’s Owen McCown, and the Roadrunners were able to run out the clock.

McCown passed for 162 yards and two touchdowns, though both quarterbacks endured a night filled with mistakes and pressure.

USF finished with more total yards than UTSA, but stalled drives and situational errors doomed the Bulls once again.

“We moved the ball,” USF coach Grant Drachman said. “We just didn’t finish. That’s been our story all year.”

Drachman was blunt afterward, lamenting missed opportunities and strategic miscues.

“I had him,” Drachman said. “Let him off the hook. Went for an onside with the wrong formation and kept messing up the power, which is usually automatic. I’ve never been genuinely gut-wrenched over a video game.”

The rivalry’s origin traced back to a Week 1 text message in which Drachman jokingly called Hammerstone “a loser,” a comment that lingered as both teams slid toward the bottom of the standings. The stakes became less about the standings and more about avoiding conference infamy.

When the final horn sounded, the cameras found the wager’s consequence.

Drachman owned it.

“I may have been the loser today,” he said, “but Hammerstone’s false cheating allegations solidified who the true loser is. I’ll eat the hot dog tomorrow — the closest thing I’ve got right now is a chicken sausage.”

Hammerstone had his own response.

“The true loser is the guy who’s watching West Virginia girls basketball right now,” he said, laughing.

For UTSA, the victory provides momentum entering the final stretch and keeps the Roadrunners alive in the crowded middle of the playoff picture.

For USF, it was another reminder of how thin the margin remains between respectability and ridicule.

“People laughed at this game,” Drachman said. “But you tell me that didn’t feel big.”

It did — and the ketchup-stained hot dog made sure no one forgets it.

Team stats

UTSA: 289 total yards (127 rushing, 162 passing)

USF: 313 total yards (74 rushing, 239 passing) Passing UTSA: Owen McCown — 9-of-18, 162 yards, 2 TD, 2 INTUSF: Byrum Brown — 23-of-29, 239 yards, TD, 2 INT

Rushing UTSA: Robert Henry Jr. — 18 carries, 102 yards, 2 TD; A’Marion Peterson — 1 carry, 22 yards USF: Cartevious Norton — 12 carries, 96 yards, TD; Byrum Brown — 13 carries, -22 yards

Receiving UTSA: Devin McCuin — 3 catches, 69 yards, TD; David Amador II — 1 catch, 55 yards, TD; Houston Thomas — 2 catches, 23 yards; Willie McCoy — 1 catch, 7 yards USF: Jeyquan Smith — 4 catches, 68 yards, TD; Keshaun Singleton — 5 catches, 53 yards; Wyatt Sullivan — 6 catches, 35 yards; Weston Wolff — 4 catches, 28 yards; Chas Nimrod — 1 catch, 40 yards; Evan Dangler — 1 catch, 0 yards